


Conscription

by raidelle



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Gen, Gladnyx if you squint, Inspired by Fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 12:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14954414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raidelle/pseuds/raidelle
Summary: Gladiolus Amicitia is one of the newest recruits of the Lucian Coalition's elite Kingsglaive unit. Nyx Ulric thinks the boy -- yes, he's just a boy despite the impressive height and breadth -- has a humongous chip on his shoulder that has to be removed. ASAP.





	Conscription

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aliatori](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliatori/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Promotion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13580205) by [aliatori](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliatori/pseuds/aliatori). 



“Hey hero, look,” Crowe’s voice sounded from his left. “Fresh meat.”

Nyx stopped mid-stretch and studied the new recruits filing into the Academy’s training hall. The first round of the standard tests and skills training just concluded a few days ago, and there were seven of them who met the mandatory high scores. Fucking seven. It was a higher number than he’d expected but still way fewer than the twenty or so that they’d wanted, but what the hell. They needed all the help they can get against the Empire. Even if they were just seven Kingsglaive wannabes who’d probably quit two weeks in.

His gaze stopped at the boy -- and really, he was just a boy despite his beyond-average height and breadth -- at the end of the short line of new recruits. Nyx could not help but raise an eyebrow at the proud set of the young man’s shoulders. It made him look even taller and broader. The fresh undercut only contributed to the imposing figure that Nyx thought the boy wanted to flaunt.

Well. We’ll see if he still has that swagger after training, Nyx thought.

“Any idea who that one is?” Nyx nudged Crowe.

Crowe followed his gaze and nodded. “Considering that near-perfect military posture? Probably the Lord Amicitia’s son. Heard he was one of the top recruits this year,” she shrugged. “Why?”

“He’s…” Nyx trailed off. He looked at the others, who were politely looking around from where they stood, then back again at the subject of his scrutiny who was stoically staring straight ahead. “He looks like he’s got something to prove.”

“Don’t they all?” Crowe said. “C’mon, let’s give them the welcome speech.”

“You do the honors. I might scare ‘em off if I do it again.”

*****

“Raya, to the left. Quinn, with me.”

Nyx could hear the whispered command filtering in from the hidden microphones in the simulation area, and into the speakers in the Manipulator. (“Which is just a fancy-ass name for the Coalition’s terrain and mission simulator,” Luche scoffed every time.) They were in the middle of the final evaluation for the advanced military tactics class. The goal was simple: accomplish the VR field op simulation in under 20 minutes. And Nyx had to grudgingly admit that Gladiolus -- the hulking brute of an almost-seventeen-year-old was named after a fucking flower -- was in top form.

The terrain and objective were drawn from previous Kingsglaive missions, both successful and not, to give the recruits a better feel of the Empire and their strategies. This particular scenario was one of Nyx’s own failed missions, just nine months after he officially became a Glaive. He and Libertus were both on that deployment, which was why the two of them were here, wasting their lunch hour and watching if the recruits would succeed even if it’s only in VR.

“What’s he even doing here?” Libertus said, sounding more curious than annoyed.

“Who?” Nyx asked, even though he knew who Libertus was talking about.

“Amicitia. He already passed everything. Top marks even.”

“He hasn’t passed this one yet.” Nyx said, giving Libertus a quick glance and a raised eyebrow. “And quantum phasing.”

“Don’t be an ass. You know what I mean.” Libertus looked at Nyx with a raised eyebrow of his own. A recruit only needed to complete one of five advanced Academy classes, with at least an A rank score, to make it into the next stage of Kingsglaive recruitment. So far, Gladiolus has aced three.

“Yeah, yeah.” Nyx said with feigned nonchalance.

Libertus turned his eyes back to the Manipulator’s view panel. “I oversaw his sim in stealth operations.”

“So?”

“He beat your score.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Nyx hissed under his breath. Gladiolus just took a running leap at a MA-X Cuirass, greatsword in one hand and shield in the other. “Wait, what?”

Libertus grinned. “Amicitia beat your score in stealth operations by two points.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

Just then, an alarm blared, announcing MISSION ACCOMPLISHED in bright green across the view panel, as the simulation disappeared into a burst of pixels. A time stamp (17:37:02) and a photo of each team member, together with their scores, then appeared beneath the still-blinking proclamation.

Nyx was focused on a single line of green text.

Cdt. G. Amicitia - AA

When the view panel turned dark once more, Nyx saw Gladiolus looking up toward his direction, eyes blazing and eyebrows drawn into a challenging line. Nyx knew he couldn’t be seen through the two-way glass, but he still had the niggling feeling that Gladiolus could see him squirm.

Libertus laughed and patted Nyx’s shoulder. “There’s still quantum phasing.”

*****

“Gods fucking damnit!”

It was just after midnight, and Nyx had just finished his patrol shift. He was just passing by the training hall on his way back to his quarters, when an echo of a deep, rumbling voice made itself heard through the walls. Quite a feat since the room is made of reinforced carbonite walls and the doors were airtight. The voice was accompanied by a dull thump of a fist on the floor and a growled “The fuck is wrong with me?”

“The hell?” Nyx muttered to himself as he took a couple of steps back to see what was happening. A quick flash of blue light shone through the glass panes set into the doors, followed by a hiss-popping sound like a shorted circuit and yet another curse told him what he needed to know.

Someone was attempting to quantum phase and failing horribly at it.

Nyx entered his passcode and the doors slid open, revealing one Gladiolus Amicitia sprawled on the floor. His Kingsglaive-issued greatsword was lying about sixty yards away, where he, too, should have been had the attempt at phasing been successful. The sword flickered for a few seconds before fading back into its module.

Somehow, Nyx was both surprised and not at this outcome.

“Mind trying that again for me?” he said, striding closer, casual as you please.

Gladiolus looked up sullenly at the intruder, then blanched when he realized who it was.

“What are you doing here?” the young man asked.

Nyx laughed. “Could say the same to you.”

Gladiolus shot him a mutinous glare and Nyx had to stifle a laugh when a disgruntled admission issued from the downturned lips: “I need the extra practice.”

“Why?”

That earned another unhappy reply. “I can’t figure out how to phase yet.”

Nyx shook his head. “No. I mean why do you need the practice? Why d’you have to figure it out? You only need to get an A or higher in one advanced Academy class. Just one.” Nyx held up a finger in emphasis. “After that military tactics sim, you now have two S’s and two AA’s. You didn’t have to do all that. I want to know why you did.”

“You did all of them, too, Ulric. So you got no right to tell me that.” Gladiolus said almost petulantly, the traces of the boy he tries to keep hidden within his physique showing up unbidden.

“That’s because I’m a crazy fuck who’s a glutton for punishment,” Nyx shrugged. “But you’re changing the subject.”

“If I tell you, will you give me one on one lessons?” Gladiolus challenged.

“Depends on your answer.”

Amber eyes turned inward in contemplation and for a second, Nyx thought Gladiolus would tell him to fuck off.

Finally, after an abundance of deep breaths, Gladiolus responded. “I don’t want people to know me just as ‘Lord Amicitia’s son.’”

“Well, Gladiolus,” Nyx said and realized that this was the first time he’d ever addressed the kid by his name. “Hate to break this to you, but you _are_ Lord Amicitia’s son.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” was the sarcastic reply.

Nyx made an inchoate noise of frustration. “Is that a requirement for children of noble families? You all don’t want to live in your parents’ shadows?”

Gladiolus looked startled at that. And when he didn’t say anything further, Nyx said, “The next quantum phasing class is at eleven hundred hours. I’ll see you then.”

With that, Nyx took his leave, the doors to the training hall hissing quietly shut behind him.

*****

_Two months later...._

“C’mon, G. You can do this,” Nyx said under his breath.

They were back in the Manipulator control room, watching the one-on-one sparring sessions of the four remaining Kingsglaive candidates. Gladio was faced against Raya, a short, wiry girl who preferred polearms. How she could swing that thing properly when it was almost twice her height was beyond Nyx, but he was mighty impressed at how she’s making Gladio actually put in more effort than he ever did during the entire Kingsglaive recruitment process.

“Oh, so now he’s ‘G,’ huh?” Crowe teased. She, Nyx, Libertus, and Luche were on standby, as the next phase of this evaluation -- which served as a sort of final test -- was a sparring session with a senior Glaive member.

“We came to an understanding,” Nyx replied tersely, eyes still on Gladio’s match.

“Is that what you call his D rank in quantum phasing?” Luche said with a grin.

Nyx growled. “No.” He’d always known Gladio will never be able to phase. He was just too solid, both physically and emotionally. His subconscious will always try to pull himself back together before he can even think about losing himself into the void. It was always the sneaky bastards like Nyx who excel in techniques that needed a more fluid sense of self.

The match timer expired with Raya’s speartip pointed squarely at Gladio’s stomach and Gladio’s sword hovering over Raya’s shoulder. Draw. Not bad, Nyx thought. They were going to be scored anyway, win or lose, and Nyx was confident that Gladio would get at least an A or higher. Raya, he’d give an AA just for sheer guts and making Gladio sweat.

The scores won’t be given until after the final sparring match, though, which would happen after a fifteen-minute reprieve. Nyx decided to head down to the simulation field to meet Gladio and… what? Give him a pep talk?

“Nice going,” Nyx said, slapping Gladio’s back and handing him a bottle of water.

Gladio shrugged. “Think I could’ve done better. But thanks.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Gladio swiped a towel down his face with a little more force than Nyx thought was needed to wick away sweat. “Dunno,” Gladio grumbled. “I was hoping to win that match.”

“You’re a competitive bastard, you know that?” Nyx laughed. “If it’ll make you feel better, I can wipe the floor with her later. She’s up against me.”

“Wow, you’re so sweet,” Gladio said, voice and face deadpan. “Who am I matched with?”

Nyx grinned in delight. “Luche.”

“Oh thank Bahamut. Someone I can beat up.”

“You mean you were holding out on Raya?” Nyx suspected as much, but it was different hearing Gladio admit to it. Sort of.

Gladio just shook his head and took a huge pull from the water bottle Nyx gave him.

Nyx laughed out loud. Yeah, the guy really won’t be able to phase. He was just too fucking good to be true.

**Author's Note:**

> I was honestly so nervous to show this to ali, because I just love the world she created in Artificial (and Promotion). Writing a futuristic/sci-fi work has been one of my biggest frustrations and I'm thankful that ali graciously let me play in the [Artificial AU](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13354923/chapters/30579489) sandbox.
> 
> ***
> 
> Say hello to me on Tumblr -- I'm also [raidelle](http://www.raidelle.tumblr.com) there. :)
> 
> (ali read this work before I posted it, so all mistakes here are mine.)


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